President's Message by Don Rima

There’s nothing like spring break to make one want to grab the family and head for opening weekend at Bush Gardens. I’m not sure which was colder, my few days in Williamsburg or Mark Twain’s summer in San Francisco! But I’m back, and as usual, late getting the newsletter out. But, hang in there as we’ve got a lot of real estate to cover and there’s a lot happening in the next couple months with WAM!

Those of you that caught Claus Weiss’s seminar on Java and websphere really walked away with a lot of really good useable stuff to take back to the shoppe. It was a packed day and evening, not to mention the stack of handouts!

JAM plans still continue to develop and we’re looking forward to a great day of fun and learning on October 29. So, make sure you mark your calendars now.

Some of you hear heard that there’s an announcement coming up in a few weeks. Perhaps you’ve heard rumors about things like: enhancements in CL, new BIF’s in RPG, new system values, new field lengths and types, linux being shipped with the o/s and all new boxes, all new boxes allowing for at least 2 LPAR’s, i&p series systems merger into the ‘eServer’ umbrella, changes in systems management and backup/recovery…. Well, you’ll then want to mark your calendar for the May WAM meeting which will be on the v5r3 announcement. It will also be at a different date than usual due to the announcement, so mark your calendars for the WAM meeting on May 25.

We’re going to have to assess a nuisance fee to those that don’t RSVP yet showup at the meeting or register late past the deadline. We’re getting complaints and assessments from the hotels catering department when folks either walk in or RSVP very late as it tends to throw off their planning. So, if you don’t RSVP on time, expect that KB will assess you a small fee. If you’d rather spend that money on your favorite beverage, well, RSVP like they vote in Chicago – early and often.

Speaking of beverages, the hotel we usually use has raised their prices and requirements for us having a cash bar by the meeting room. So, what we’ve negotiated is this: If you want a drink, drop by the bar on the way in, grab whatever you want and bring it to the happy hour at the meeting. During the meeting time, the room attendant will make a round or 2 of orders for the bar and bring them to your table and you can settle with them on a cash basis. This should help to keep our cost down and yet keep you well lubricated. And, as always, WAM encourages our members to be responsible in their drinking. We like seeing you at the meetings, not on the Post Office walls.

We’re continuing our seminar series offerings with a WAM guest speaker in April in Robb Wiedrich from the Rochester lab doing a full day on the latest with iSeries Navigator, which many of us still refer to as Ops Nav. There’s no mistake to be made, things are going GUI and iSeries Navigator IS the way to be managing your machine and it’s the way future items shipped will be installed and maintained on your OS/400 system!

We’re moving the meeting date BACK to April 27th so that we can have a great speaker for not only our evening meeting but for our seminar series. I urge you to checkout the WAM seminars information page.

Robb will also be doing the evening session for the regular WAM meeting on "Make Managing PTFs a Snap!" Details later in the newsletter.

See you at WAM on the 27th. Register early and bring a friend!

April 27th Meeting

Robb Wiedrich was the Toolbox team leader at IBM Rochester. For the last year, Robb has been leading a team of developers who are working on emerging internet technologies that involve doing systems management over the web.

He has spent the previous six years working on the IBM Toolbox for Java development team. The Toolbox team has been integral in promoting Java on the iSeries and making Java applications easier to access iSeries data and resources. A majority of todays Java applications are leveraging Toolbox API’s, including Websphere, iSeries Access for Wireless, iSeries Access for Windows, iSeries Navigator, and iSeries Access for Web.

Robb has written numerous articles for technology publications on the topics of Toolbox, JTOpen, and Toolbox Micro Edition. He is a regular presenter at COMMON and speaks at conferences and user group meetings.

Robb’s presentation is: "Make Managing PTF’s a SNAP!" Though each customer may use different processes, the tools and techniques for managing fixes (PTFs) for a network of iSeries have many things in common. In our meeting, we will discuss the challenges, benefits and methods of ensuring a consistent software base through practical scenarios. If you manage iSeries systems, come get a glimpse of some tips and techniques to improve management of fixes. We will also go over locating ptf’s via the iSeries Navigator interface; sending and installing fixes on other iSeries or Partitions; and comparing and updating fixes across your iSeries Network.

Tuesday April 27, 2004
Holiday Inn in College Park, MD
US 1 & The Beltway
5:30 PM Networking/Cash Bar
6:00 PM Dinner
6:30 PM Presentation